The WATER Method Applied
anxiety / change / counseling / depression / help / management / stress / therapy / thoughts
December 21, 2009 7
So normally I’d go off on some way you can use the WATER Method in your own life. But seeing as its the Christmas Season, I’m going to do something special.
I’m going apply the WATER Method to my own life, so you have a better understanding of what I do to keep it together and still gro people every day.
Let me start by saying that last week was probably one of the hardest weeks I’ve ever had. I didn’t say worst, because as bad as it was, life is still pretty good., and I have a lot to be thankful for. However, I have obtained a newfound appreciation for parents, and all the hats they have to wear.
Be that as it may, I’ll share with you the issues that have been stressing me out, and what I did to manage them.
Let’s start with my list of stressors.
- Cleaning my house
- Working on my own business
- Taking care of my wife, as she’s pregnant
- Making sure I’m good to my animals
- Managing the Finances
- Dealing with my own personal issues
- Keeping cool to manage other people’s issues
OK, so now that I have my list, the next step is to separate them into what I can and can’t change.
What I CAN’T change:
- My wife’s feelings
- Whether or not clients show up for sessions
- Other people’s issues (until we work on them together)
- My wife’s pregnancy (we ARE keeping the baby)
What I CAN change:
- Cleaning my house (Actions, Results)
- My Feelings & Issues (Words, Thoughts & Emotions)
- How I conduct my business (Actions, Results, & Thoughts)
- Taking care of my animals (Actions)
- Taking care of my wife, and how much I do it (Actions & Results)
- Keeping the finances in line (Thoughts & Actions)
See that? So what I do form there is take the things I can’t change and resolve that I can’t change them. No matter how hard I try, stressing out about them isn’t going to change those things from being beyond my control.
So by accepting that I can’t change them, and resolving this, I let go of them, and choose not to think about them (remember processing vs. stuffing?). Then I take action on the things that I can change, and utilize my energy toward making those improvements.
As a result, I’m more on top of my finances, my housework, and my wife and I have come up with ways to keep working together despite her staying home to sit on the egg.
Does this help explain the WATER Method better? Talk to me people. 
This post helped explain your method much better for me. I now need to use the same process in my own life. I have the toughest time with changing my feelings. Once my feelings are positive toward something, it is easier to change my thoughts, actions, and results.
Thanks for your blog posts. They are helpful for me.
Hey Julie!
Glad to hear the explaination helped. Your comments inspire me to get back to work on The WATER Method book, which should be my New Year’s Resolution.
And New Year’s Resolutions are what my next post is all about.
Sometimes it’s really that simple, isn’t it? I feel a little stupid for not thinking of this myself/earlier, though.
Damn, that sound’s so easy if you think about it.
Tips,
Don’t feel stupid. It took me years to figure this out, perfect it, and I’m still writing the book. Look on the bright side: you found it, so now you can use it.
Hey, ok, I get it, I guess – but does this really work?
I’ve used it myself, so its worked in my life. If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be very proud of it. My clients seem to think it works as well, so there’s something to be said for that I think.